ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter explores the development of Western Europe’s social models (i.e. welfare states) in the context of the CWO. The chapter draws upon the CPE tradition, which utilizes a comprehensive set of analytical and conceptual tools to identify a diverse range of explanatory factors which orthodox approaches tend to ignore. Put simply, it situates the development of Western Europe’s welfare states within a specific ‘historical structure’ (Cox, 1996): the CWO. By attending to the nature of the capitalist system during this epoch, the historical specificities of this era and the global configuration of social forces during this period, it seeks to chart a new course for the study of these formations. The chapter does not advance a CPE-inspired conceptual and/or theoretical exposition of the development of Western Europe’s welfare states within the context of European integration and the CWO, nor does it offer a comparative account of welfare state development in Western Europe, and nor does it endeavour to explore particular cases, as such work has been initiated elsewhere.1 Instead, it seeks to identify the dominant actors and structures, often neglected by the existing literature, which both shaped and constrained these formations during the CWO. The chapter advances four main arguments. First, that the nature and trajectory of Western Europe’s welfare states were the product of the struggle between social forces at the national, European and global levels during the CWO. Second, that the deployment of US power in Western Europe was decisive in determining the outcome of this struggle. Third, that Western Europe’s welfare states were shaped by, and, equally importantly, constrained by, the structure of the World Order during this period. Fourth, that the nature and trajectory of the European project, as an integral part of the World Order, precluded the creation of a common, Europe-wide social model and/or a unified EEC/EC-level welfare state. The chapter is divided into five main sections. The first section discusses the different types of social models that developed in Western Europe during the CWO. The second section reviews the two main debates about the welfare state during this period: the inevitability of welfare state development and the existence of welfare state convergence towards high levels of social expenditure. In
an attempt to enrich the existing literature, the third section assesses the potential contribution of the CPE tradition to understanding and explaining Western Europe’s social models, while the fourth section seeks to show how the particular configuration of social forces during the CWO influenced the development of Western Europe’s welfare states; utilizing declassified state planning documents and long-neglected studies, it discusses the broader historical and political context within which these formations developed. Having discussed the weaknesses of the existing literature, highlighted the potential contribution of the CPE tradition and identified the key events and processes that engender the CWO, the fifth section contributes to the aforementioned debates by investigating the impact of the structure of the World Order, and the role of the United States in constructing and maintaining this World Order, on Western Europe’s welfare states. In short, this chapter presents a political economy of Western Europe’s welfare states during the CWO.
